Jun
23
Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless
Jun
23
Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless
Jun
22
Dinner at Palo. Frances says “Stacey eat your heart out!”. That is indeed Marco – what a wonderful server and what a fabulous meal. Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless
Jun
22
We had a great day in Rome. Yes, it was long and hot, but it was so very amazing. We started out visiting the Mouth of Truth (Bocca della Verita) in the church Santa Maria in Cosmedin. This was made famous in the movie Roman Holiday with Audrey Hepburn. DCL is showing the movie during the cruise and I managed to watch it. We re-boarded the buses for the trip to the Roman Forum. It was very hot in the open spaces and we were doing our best to seek out shade. After wandering the Roman Forum we then went to the Coliseum. Our tour did not include the interior, which was OK with us. It is a quite amazing structure. To those reading that will be touring in the future – buy water when you can. As we were leaving the Roman Forum I spied a street vendor selling frozen bottles of water. These managed to cool us for the next hour or so and were well worth the 2 euros each. Once again on the buses we set out for Vatican City. There is a huge underground parking area and you leave your buses and walk up an incline to the entrance to Vatican City. Once you enter St. Peter’s Square it is quite awe inspiring seeing all of the structures that previously have only lived in pictures. The wait to enter St. Peter’s Basilica was only about 15 minutes. Quite short. You have to go through metal detectors and x-ray machines check your belongings. There is another check just prior to entering the Basilica to make sure that you meet the clothing standards. We received a short talk about the various doors and entrances before we entered. We then entered the Basilica and it is just huge. Pictures do not do it justice. We stayed in the Basilica for about 30 minutes. We could have used hours, but the next stop beckoned. We had 15 minutes for shopping which was not nearly enough given the speed of the cashiers. We had to re-board the buses yet again, as the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel are on the opposite side of Vatican City and I guess they don’t want tourists traipsing along and running into the Pope. We unloaded and walked up steps to the entrance. Here we met the other 5 or 6 buses on this tour. We got in line and entered the museum. The first stop on the museum was where they keep the Pope’s carriages (and cars). This is not usually open to the general public so it was quite amazing to see. We then toured the museum enroute to the Sistine Chapel. You don’t really get to explore all areas of the museum – just those that are on the way. The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking. I know that the pictures from the cell phone are unimpressive, but the ones I took with the Nikon D200 are wonderful. This is the main reason I purchased this new camera – and it was well worth it. After the Sistine Chapel we walked to the buses (I did make a quick dash into a store along the way for a couple of Cokes) and headed back to the Magic. Was this tour worth it – YES – absolutely, it was long, hot, but the memories will last a lifetime. I would love to come back to Rome and spend a few days, but I doubt that is going to happen anytime soon so we made the best of the time that we had available.
Jun
22
Today is our day at sea. Cloudy with calm seas and temperatures in the mid-seventies. We are drifting at the moment . I can’t say that I’ve ever been on the Magic or Wonder where we stopped the engines and just drifted. We don’t have that far to our next port so here we drift. Quite unusual to say the least. It remains quite hazy so the horizon is somewhat obscured.
I have taken over 300 pictures so far. It looks like I’ll be posting them on the return to the US as there is no other sensible way to do it.
We had dinner at Palo, and it was wonderful as usual. Marco was our server and it was nice to talk to him about the Magic being in Italy. One of the next times the ship stops in Palermo he is going to be able to have his family visit the ship.
Jun
21
These pictures are using the camera phone. Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless
Jun
21
Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless
Jun
21
Inside St. Peter’s. Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless
Jun
21
The entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica. Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless
Jun
21
Sent via BlackBerry from Cingular Wireless
